wh40khomebrewfandomcom-20200215-history
Battleforged
The Battleforged are an infamous Khorne-dedicated warhost that numbers in the thousands with a mix of World Eaters & Iron Warriors to create a brutal meat grinder of a warhost that has crazed Berzerkers as well as powerful warpsmiths and there daemon engines. Though not all of their members have the Butcher's Nails cortical implants, every member after completing there time as a Scout Marine, receives an implant that allows combat stimulants to be administered directly to the brain whenever they want or when certain triggers happen like the Butcher's Nails implant activating or being near a psyker. While all of the warhost is currently involved in the 13th Black Crusade in some way a couple battalions are part of the armada under the control of Archspinner Akemos of the Cabal of Destiny and is amassing to assault the planet of Troii along with the rest of the forces under his control Including the Plague Ravens. These battalions together number over 2000 astartes & around 500,000 cultists. History World Eater faction Created from a World Eaters Legion Company who's leader renamed himself to Kvonogar following his betrayal at Istvaan III. He broke off from Angron while still retaining loyalty to his primarch, Kvonogar would march with him almost every time he has fought the Imperium since becoming a Daemon Prince including the First war of Armageddon where the Battleforged suffered there biggest loss of life since the heresy or since. After entering the Eye of Terror they stayed with their legion until the Slave Wars. During this time Kvonogar saw the brotherhood of his legion sundered beyond saving. He spent much of the end of these wars recruiting other like minded World Eaters to his group and sacrificing as many if not more of those who did not agree or were of other legions to Khorne. Eventually the traitor Navigators of his warband were able to find there way to a blood red daemon world, and an Iron Warriors fleet several times there size arriving at the exact same time. Iron Warrior faction Warsmith Esfalon and his Grand Battalion were stationed very far from the Istvaan system and thus could not take part in the main battles of the Horus Heresy, much to there dismay. They were forced to retreat into the Eye of Terror. On the way there they to the eye they became angered at there inability to bring war and death to Terra so instead they sacked several planets to the last before leveling there cities and leaving, this developed a Khorne worshiping cult that overtook there more pragmatic and undivided tendencies. It also filled there armouries with plundered munitions and vehicles as well as a large pool of converted Khorne cultists to build a recruitment base from. Esfalon himself did not care much for speeches and leading charges but was a master warpsmith as well as tactician to the point that he had even been considered a future member of the Trident. He was as paranoid and secretive as his primarch, rarely trusting anyone outside his closest comrades. All of his Librarians became worried at the turn to Khorne over remaining with Undivided, unknown to them Khorne had been visiting Esfalon in his dreams and guiding him to greater acts of bloodshed further into the eye as he spurned his Navigators to succeed or die in finding what looked like "a bloody jewel". The Librarians attempted to usurp his command and instill a Chaos Undivided faction instead of the Khornate cult taking over, though powerful the Librarians had few of the battleline members to defend them and Khorne himself was on the side of his cult, nullifying the warp around them enough to almost totally dampen there offensive powers. The coup was easily crushed with many of the Librarians being captured while trying in vain to cast there powers out, Esfalon had all of the Librarian prisoners chained and kept in warded cells while any others were sacrificed that night in a ceremony securing there place under the thrall of Khorne. Contact over Zaugantu When contact was made between Esfalon's and Kvonogar's fleets there was a long silent tension as both sides weighed there choices: Kvonogar had far less ships and manpower to win a void war but was to large of a flotilla to be ignored, while Esfalon knew that if there was a battle his flagship would be boarded and most likely fall to the melee fury of the Khornates. Instead both leaders & a small honor guard each called a parlay and met in a Stormbird on the surface of the nearest planet, a nameless crone world that had been an Eldar fortress world at one point, it was covered in unnatural deserts of blood red dust & ruins from the former occupants. Along with Esfalon's honor guard came all of the sorcerers of his forces, stripped naked, shackled and warded from being able to use there powers, and then placed within a sealed unit for transport to the surface. They were handed over as sacrificial tributes by Esfalon as a way to show there respect to the new World Eater allies. This act sealed there alliance as the Iron Warriors were shown the blood rituals and did it themselves in a ceremony with every single member of the new warhost present but segregated. Kvonogar was ever the taciturn general & saw the advantages of actual tactics as well as having some kind of close tie with one of the Dark Mechanicum factions, and so was glad to combine his fledgling warband with that of the larger and fully equipped Iron Warriors Grand Battalion that had also broken off from its parent legion, though they broke off as they felt there wasn't enough death being caused by there old legion and saw the World Eaters as the perfect allies to shed blood with. Kvonogar took the title of Supreme Warlord as the warhost's overall master while Esfalon took a more behind the scenes second in command role as Supreme Warsmith, befitting his personality and preference to crack enemy fortresses & build daemon engines that can spread across the galaxy spilling blood for Khorne. Another more secret reason for Kvonogar's alliance with a group of skilled warpsmiths was to figure out a way to better understand the Butcher's Nails implant in all of his World Eaters, in order to create them in the future and to control their own brains better, & Esfalon was known as a master techmarine and warpsmith. By M41 there Bloodsmiths have mostly mastered the art of the the implants and have used that skill to amass resources and slaves in return for there expertise in creating more berzerkers. Birth of the Meat Grinder After they joined together they practiced there abilities on some of the other warbands in the nearby systems. They also ventured out of the Eye to raid as many Imperial worlds as they could to harvest sizable populations for use as slaves and cultists on there own fortress daemon world. They also sent several companies out to other chaos hotspots to fight the Imperium including the Eastern Fringe. Together they use there differing strengths & skills to pincer enemies with brutal offensives coupled with unrelenting defense lines and artillery barrages. The rank and file astartes have a tenuous grasp of brotherhood that keeps them from killing each other to much more than is acceptable for a normal chaos warband. Homeworld there homeworld is a daemon world deep in the Eye of Terror named Zaugantu that has 8 massive hellforges, each commanded by a Warpsmith, that pumps out daemon engines and weapons for eternity and 8 gladiator arenas, each commanded by a Bloodsmith, big enough for whole companies to fight each other dotting its surface as well as a massive fortress on the northern polar area simply called the Citadel. The Citadel is made from the bones of massive daemons held together with the fused fleshmetal of still living loyalist bodies and studded with thousands of weapon emplacements to protect it from the constant attacks from other warbands and there daemonic allies, these attacks serve as constant sacrifice to Khorne as well as training for the warhost to keep them battle ready. On the southern polar area is a massive prison complex used to house untold slaves of all species awaiting sacrifice or placement in the hellforges. From this slave population is where the neophytes for the warhost come from. (To Be Added) Notable Campaigns Eastern Fringe Blooding (550-648.M33): 'Known as the Idolater Crusades to the Imperium, this brutal assault was fought by several different chaos warbands including several companies of Battleforged against the Void Paladins and a dozen regiments of the Astra Militarum & local PDF. This was the first full chapter action conducted by the Void Paladins and saw them go face to face with the Battleforged and there temporary allies, by the end of these crusades most of the Paladins were dead but held on enough for the chaos forces to be routed from the system. (To Be Added) Warband Organisation As a hybrid warhost they have most of the special ranks & units found in either parent legion as well as the additions from there allegiance to Khorne. Of note is Kvonogar making the distinct ranks of Warlord & Warsmith to better mix the forces he had under him: Warlords were in charge overall but the Warsmiths were the main tacticians. This was done at Esfalon's request & Kvonogar agreeing, an action that would be repeated in many tactical meetings as the years wore on and Kvonogar became a Daemon Prince. Their main combat grouping is a Battalion, the name used for a strength of about 800 marines. Each Battalion has its own Warlord as the commander followed by his 8 Warsmiths. From there it is the normal company and squads seen in a ''Codex chapter but changed to fit there more daemonic aspects, each company has about 8 warpsmith and Bloodsmith. Under the marines is a massive army of cultists often numbering well over 80,000 that follow each Battalion as cannon fodder or sacrifices in blood rituals. Specialist Units *'''Warlord: Name given to the commander of a Battalion, always an implanted astartes. Due to the implants heavily changing the brain of its user, regardless of gene-seed, they are unable to have the more broad view of warfare that a Warsmith does but instead are the hyper violent totems that there forces follow into battle. It is standard practice for them to leave the tactics to the warsmiths so they can lead from the front and as such heed there Warsmiths advice if lucid through there implant. *'Warsmith': Used as the term for high ranking officers under the warlord of a battalion similar to the captain of a loyalist chapter. Each of the elite formations that come from the Iron Warriors also has a warsmith in charge of it to better coordinate between the different groups as well as a few others to advise the Supreme Warsmith similar to the Trident under Perturabo. Often the fleet & siege master for the battalion while the Warlord is the ground & overall commander. The highest ranking Warsmith takes the title of Supreme Warsmith. *'Bloodsmith': A mix of a Chaplain and an Apothecary that are in charge of the blood rituals as well as guarding and dealing with captured sorcerers. They lead the creation of the various possessed as well as command them in combat much like a warpsmith with daemon engines, and are also some of the foremost of berserker surgeons. There main weapon is an accursed crozius in the shape of either a spiked skull with eight spikes or the Mark of Khorne. *'Skull Reaper': Name used for the 8 elite champions that hunt down enemy psykers and all who defend them, each has 8 veteran members of there honor guard from any of the formations or squads. Unlike there more berserk brothers these Nail implanted warriors are still mostly in control of themselves, embodying the martial pride aspect of Khorne instead of the wanton slaughter normally seen by those implanted. *'Tyrant Siege Squad': Iron Warriors heresy era formation of Terminator clad veterans using carapace mounted missile launchers to act as vanguard siege breakers. Used by the Battleforged in the same way. *'Iron Havoc Squad': Iron Warriors heresy era formation of elite havoc marines who excelled at pinpoint accuracy to snipe priority targets or the smallest of weakpoints in a wall. The version used in the Battleforged also includes elite tactical marines as well who back the up and protect them as well as keep the squads overall ability flexible. As a squad they work with other elite units like the siege terminators to open even the hardest walls or fortified defense lines. *'Stor-Bezashk': Iron Warriors heresy era formation of veterans, they are the elite siege masters of the Battleforged. In charge of there most powerful artillery and super heavy vehicles as well as the defensive aspects of siegecraft, there warpsmiths also craft the custom high explosive ordinance used by them and the other veteran units. *'Bloodborn': Powerful hybrid of Berserker and Obliterator with fleshmetal internals and are so wild and bloodthirsty that they must be treated like helbrutes and chained/sedated to keep from killing their masters between battles. Often they are made from those of Iron Warrior's gene-seed that recieves the Butchers Nails, who see the chance to become a supreme killing machine a worthy use of there soul. Lead by a Bloodsmith into battle as they are some of the few that can easily control them. *'Berzerker': The most well known special unit for any warband that includes World Eaters in its ranks. *'Khornate Daemonkin': Ranging from the Possessed to the Neverborn to all the horrors outside of what a warpsmith can create. They are often lead into battle by a Bloodsmith or some other elite unit. *'Ravager Squad': Unlike the aerial Raptors and Warp Talons, these are a ground-based assault unit made up of recruits that decided to receive the Butcher's Nails and are still getting used to it, and as such, this rank also has the highest casualty rate in the Battleforged. Most will die or become a berzerker or possibly a possessed or some other monstrous entity. *'Vice Squad': Scout Marines who excel at keep enemy forces pinned down until the rest of a battalion can attack. All scout marines must complete their training as part of these squads before joining the rest of the warhost. Warband Combat Doctrine From there mixed lineage they have a large assortment of tactical ability from massed frontal charges of armour and berzerkers to a maze of bunkers and trenches. They will often blast a warzone from orbit as much as possible while landing troops and supplies to create a stronghold from which to ravage the planet from, or just land among the enemy and take there strongholds instead. They have the same normal units like Raptors, Havocs, and Tactical marines though most recruits become either Ravagers or Tactical marines since all Raptors & most Havocs are veterans. They have massive depots of vehicles and terminator suits to supply there huge host of elites. They deploy large bike squadrons to scout and flank as well. There scout marines are used to harass and pin down enemy forces more than actual scouting. After a recruit has completed the equivalent of being a scout marine they get the combat stimulants wired in & receive the choice of having the Butchers Nails implant and joining the Ravager or other close assault squads to die or rise to the rank of a Warlord someday, or do not receive the extra implant & join the Havoc and Tactical squads or anything else needed to at most rise to that of a Warsmith. There seems to be a constant 60% Implanted & 40% Non Implanted split to feed the casualty rate of there Ravager Squads. One of the more difficult parts of leading this warhost is keeping those that have the implant from turning on there brethren, this is done by constant fighting and blood rituals in all 8 arenas on Zaugantu to keep them placated between deployments. Notable Warband Members *'Supreme Warlord Kvonogar': the warhost's leader and daemon ruler of Zaugantu. Even though he is as crazed as most of his old legion he was also an astute general and tactician when he could keep himself under control. Eventually he was able to become a daemon prince from his constant warring against the Imperium and focus on improving the Berzerker surgery. His honor guard is a group of eight terminator clad berzerkers with wrist mounted bolters & dual chainaxes, each a massive chainaxe to a normal astartes, or a heavy weapon & a single chainaxe. He himself is clad in fleshmetal terminator armor and mutated to stand several metres higher than even his honor guard. Daemonhood granted him giant wings & a daemonic face with fangs that can crunch the limbs of power armor. His main weapon is a giant daemonic axe said to have belonged to a Bloodthirster he killed in the Eye of Terror after becoming a Daemon Prince, and a wrist mounted combi storm bolter with a warped plasma gun as its secondary. *'Supreme Warsmith Esfalon': Iron Warriors leader that accepted a secondary role as it was easier to focus on his work while Kvonogar played warlord. Has a veteran company of astartes loyal to him over Kvonogar in case he ever needed to flee or take over. His biggest contribution is improving the Butcher's Nails used by the warhost to lessen its brain killing side effects as well as improved overall performance. *'Leman': Nickname given to a Chaos corrupted Wulfen berzerker that is like a pet to Kvonogar. It is unknown how he came to be under Kvonogar's thrall but he has been at his side for millennia and happily slaughters loyalists as much as daemons. Rumor among the Battleforged say that he is a former member of Leman Russ's retinue but he is actually one of the few Wolf Brothers left alive after the successor chapter overly mutated and was exterminated. After his success Kvonogar has gathered as many other wulfen he could find & gave them the full berzerker surgery as well as had them mutated to varying degrees, to act as his personal pack of hounds. The warp has increased his already beastly visage to horrific proportions: his body is partially covered in the fleshmetal of his ancient power armor with thick tuffs of scales & hair poking out all over, his skeleton restructured to allow for quadruped movement but can still fully stand up and fight, he has a pair of spiked horns growing from his forehead flanking a mark of Khorne he clawed in himself, long needle like serrated teeth interweave almost impossibly outside his mouth when his jaw is closed, his hands & feet claws are as long as lightning claws and just as sharp and durable including being able to block and grab power weapons, he has a hairy tentacle like tail that ends in a spiked ball, his hands and his tail have leech mouths that act like chainswords to bore into armor & secrete acidic blood that also drips from his mouth when in a rage. Besides these he also has cybernetic upgrades added by the warpsmiths like a multi vision spectrum eye, several tail like mechanitendrils like those used by warpsmiths but they all end with sharp pincers or manipulators and are covered in patches of organic scales with more hair between the scales, and the infamous butchers nails & autochem implants used by the Berzerkers that he emulates. On top of his reactor backpack he has a large totem of various skulls tightly bound with brass wires in the shape of the mark of Khorne and has about a half dozen shrunken heads on his waist that all belonged to powerful adversaries, each etched with a mark of Khorne on the forehead. (To Be Added) Chapter Appearance Warband Colours The Battleforged primarily wears black, including the helmet, backpack, chest guard and armorial. The secondary colour is red, the spilt blood, including the groin guard, cuisses (thigh armour), poleyns (knee guards), greaves (shin armour) and sabatons (foot armour). The shoulder pauldron trim and various parts of the armour trim is brass in colour. The brass trim along the pauldrons and elsewhere, like the Octed (Star of Chaos) commonly worn on their chest guard, is utilised to denote senior rank by being more ornate. Warband Badge The Battleforged corrupted iconography consists of a fanged cybernetic skull that has the Mark of Khorne prominently etched into its forehead, with an attached spinal column and ribs, its arms held in a divine pose and two red coloured crossed arrows icon that form a variant of the Chaos Octed. Warband Fleet With the combined flotillas the Battleforged have a large fleet of ancient pattern voidcraft and untold fighters, Thunderhawks, heavier drop ships, drop pods, stockpiles of ground vehicles of almost every type fielded during the Horus Heresy, & anything else several chapters worth of marines would need to assault an entire star system at once. (To Be Added) Warband Relics (To Be Added) Relations Allies Abaddon/ Chaos Undivided- As part of there never ending quest to shed blood for Khorne they have joined each black Crusade that has been undertaken to some degree depending on the constant wars that take place within the Eye of Terror. Currently the entire warhost is involved in some way. Cabal of Destiny- Though they hate sorcerers like all Khorne worshipers they see the Cabal as a path to greater bloodshed and a connection to Abbadon himself. Currently about 2000 marines & about 500,000 cultists are a part of the armada gathering outside the planet Troii. Plague Ravens- As both the Ravens and the Battleforged do not trust Akemos or his patron god to begin with, the leaders of the separate detachments sent to invade Troii have made a secret pact in case Akemos does any kind of trickery. Enemies Void Paladins- The first crusade undertaken by the Paladins put them against the Battleforged and cost them over 85% of there battle brothers before chaos forces were pushed out. Ever since the Battleforged have held a grudge against the unyielding loyalists turned renegades. Notable Quotes Feel free to Add your Own By the Battleforged About the Battleforged Category:Chaos Category:Chaos Space Marines Category:Chaos Warbands Category:Iron Warriors Successors Category:World Eaters Successors